The Biblical Archaeologist - Vol.27, N.3

36 Pages·1964·4.18 MB·English

by  American Schools of Oriental Research

The
BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST
Published by
THE AMERICAN SCHOOLS OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH
Jerusalem and Bagdad
Drawer 93-A, Yale Station, New Haven, Conn.
Vol. XXVII September,1 964 No. 3
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(cid:127)(cid:127)
Fig. 1. A 4th century portrait of a certain Eusebius in gold glass, found in the catacombso f
S. Castillo. Can it be Eusebius of Caesarea?F rom the Vatican Museo Christiano.
Contents
Eusebiuso f Caesareaa nd the Onomasticonb,y CarlU mhauW olf .......................... 66
The Treatyb etweenI sraela nd the Gibeonitesb, y F. CharlesF ensham.. ..................9 6
66 THE BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST (Vol. XXVII,
The Biblical Archaeologist is published quarterly (February, May, September, December)
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non-technical, yet thoroughly reliable account of archaeological discoveries as they relate to the
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Eusebius of Caesarea and the Onomasticon
CARLU MHAUW OLF
Toledo, Ohio
Eusebius Pamphili, better known as Eusebius of Caesarea, had the
encyclopedic interests of ancient scholars. Although popularly known as
"The Father of Church History" because of his ten volumes on the history
of the Christian Church from New Testament times to just before the
Council of Nicea, Eusebius was an omnibus writer. "His erudition would
be remarkable in any age; the versatility of his studies is amazing and
posterity owes him a heavy debt."' His works are used by students in many
disciplines. At least twenty-nine or thirty works are known by name, of
which about twenty are extant or preserved almost fully in translation.
Even the classification of his works is difficult. Foakes-Jacksonc alls
Eusebius a chronologer, a theologian, a biblical student, a topographer of
Palestine, an historian, and an apologist. The editor of the newest transla-
tion of the Church History, Deferrari has six; historical, exegetical, apolo-
getic, doctrinal, letters, and homilies. Lake gives no classification except a
possible chronological division of four periods in Eusebius' life: early period,
303-313, 313-325, and after Nicea.
Of the early period only Adversus Hieroclem is extant, but other
apologetic and historical works belonged to this period. In the second, the
same two types of writings dominate. The Chronicon or World History
survives in an Armenian and a Latin translation. The PreparatioE vangelica
is fully extant, while the Demonstratio Evangelica is about half complete
1. F. J. Foakes-Jackson, Eusebius Pamphili (1933), p. xiv.
1964, 3) THE BIBLICALA RCHAEOLOGIST 67
in our present !texts. During the last great period of persecution of *the
Christians by Rome there must have been a devastating burning of Chris-
tian books, and the library of Caesarea would have been a principal target,
although no literary reference to this remains.
The renowned Church History, originally with only eight books, be-
longs to the period between the Edict of Milan and the Council of Nicea.
The study of Palestinian Martyrs also comes from this period of improved
church-state relations. After Nicea there are many writings on emperor
Constantine, Eusebius' commentaries on Old and New Testament, his
geographical works and some theological and apologetic works. Except for
the first three parts of his geographical writings, at least fragments of all
the works from this last period survive, attesting the more favorable cir-
cumstance of the Church.
As an historian Eusebius bridges the gap from the book of Acts to
the Council of Nicea. Foakes-Jacksonc ompares his importance to that of
Josephus who does the same for the intertestamental history of the Jews.2
Both were wide readers and often used their sources uncritically. As scholars
favored with patronage from Roman rulers, they had access to books and
other political and military sources not open to all. Although called "his-
torians" both wrote their histories as apologies for their faith. Neither is
as complete as modern scholarship would desire, but despite the many
faults and lacunae they remain our only written sources for the history of
their respective periods. The historical writings of both are not only similar
in origin, nature and purpose, but are approximately equal in length.
Neither Josephus nor Eusebius was a fanatic defender of the faith.
They can hardly be claimed by one sect or party, yet their influence on
their respective rulers and on their co-religionists can not be ignored or
minimized. Josephus was considered a traitor or "Quisling," while Eusebius
was often called "heretic."H e was involved in the Arian struggle. He was
sympathetic to Arius and some of his best friends were Arians even if he
himself were not theologically an Arian. In an attempt ito mediate the dif-
ficulties and to hold to a middle of the road theology himself, he lost his
opportunity for sainthood. His contemporaries could not agree on his or-
thodoxy. The controversy over his theological position continued after his
death among other church historians and theologians, even though he
signed the Nicene Creed and the anathema decreed upon Arius.3 At the
Council of Tyre in 335 he was accused not merely of heresy but of apos-
2. Ibid., p. xii.
R3.. OJ.n DEefuesrerbairuis's' ethdeitoiloong y,o f seEeu sLe.b iBuse'r kChhouf,r cDhi e HTishtoeroylo ginie tdhees FEauthseebrsiu so f vtohne CCaheusarcrhea S(e1r9i3es9,) , Voal.n dI
(Introduction).
68 THE BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST (Vol. XXVII,
tasy since he apparently had escaped the persecutions of the first decade
of the 4th century unscathed. His later writings seem to be orthodox but
the Arians still used him. He suffered even a greater loss of reputation
when the Iconoclasts quoted him at the second Council of Nicea and forced
the more orthodox to attack him severely. His reputation in the East never
recovered after the Photius schism, but St. Jerome in the West admired
him and is greatly responsible for the survival of his writings. Details of
the controversya s well as summaries of his many writings are not pertinent
here, but the classic Smith's Dictionary of Christian Biography is still the
best survey.
Life of Eusebius
The name Eusebius is a common one. At least forty contemporaries
are called by this name. Another famous church father is Eusebius of Ni-
comedia. St. Jerome also occasionally used the name Eusebii. Therefore,
the author of the Onomasticon is distinguished from the others by three
epithets. Because he was bishop of Caesarea in Palestine for a number of
years he is often called Eusebius of Caesarea. Some authors call him Euse-
bius "the Palestinian" which may refer to the location of his bishopric or
hint of his origin and birth. He himself chose and preferred the name
Eusebius Pamphili after his teacher and friend, Pamphilius the martyr.
No biography of Eusebius of Caesarea exists from contemporaryt imes.
It is believed that his successor Acacius, bishop of Caesarea, wrote one but
it is no longer extant. The place and the year of his birth are unknown.
Earlier scholars suggested his birth was between 275 and 280. More careful
recent scholarship places the date earlier, betwen 259 and 265.4 There is
no evidence that he was not a Palestinian and perhaps even a native of
Caesarea itself. His parents were not Jewish, but again all proof that they
were Christian is lacking. Arius called him "brother"t o Eusebius of Ni-
comedia but this probably reflects Christian usage or theological kinship
rather than blood relationship.
Little is known of his youth and early training. But he soon became
a student in the theological school of Caesarea founded by Origen. He
studied under Pamphilius. Their relationship became more than that of
student to teacher. They were friends and co-workers. Both were lovers of
books and admirers of Origen. They probably added new books to the il-
lustrious library gathered together at Caesarea by Origen during the last
twenty years of his life. The theological, biblical and exegetical tradition
of Origen was most influential on Eusebius. Apparently about 296 when
4. For additional material on his life, see K. Lake in the introductory volume to Eusebius' Ecclesiasti-
cal History in the Loeb Classics (1953); D. S. Wallace-Hadrill, Eusebius of Caesarea (1960); B.
Altaner, Patrologie (1958), pp. 206ff.; and the various dictionaries and encyclopedias.
1964, 3) THE BIBLICALA RCHAEOLOGIST 69
still in Palestine as a student, Eusebius had his first glimpse of Constantine.
The action of Eusebius during the great persecution is a matter of
debate and much speculation. There is no doubt that during part of the
time he was absent from Caesarea. But he visited the imprisoned Pamphilius
sometime during the period 307-310. There is a suggestion that he was
arrested briefly himself in 309. He also reports that he witnessed the deaths
of other martyrs in Tyre and elsewhere. After the death of Pamphilius in
February 310, he fled to Egypt. It is suggested he was arrested a second
time (or for the first time). He was released when peace was restored in
313 and returned to Caesarea. As noted above he was accused at the Council
of Tyre in 335 of betraying the faith and of making the pagan sacrifice
in order to survive. He did not suffer injury in the persecution but no evi-
dence was produced in 335 to prove his supposed apostasy, and none has
appeared since.
Shortly after 313 he became bishop of Caesarea. When he was or-
dained a deacon or priest is unknown. Some suggest he was not ordained
at all until elected bishop. In 314 a brief persecution flared up under Li-
cinius but it did not affect Palestine and Egypt. In 315 he is known as one
who has been bishop for some time already. About 318 the Arian troubles
began to come to a head. He was chairman of the Council of Nicea (the
term president is deliberately avoided here) in 325. He and Constantine
seem to have agreed on policy for the most part. As a moderate he felt the
church could have room for both the followers of Arius and of Athanasius.
He usually voted, however, with the majority. But after Nicea he spent
much effort to prevent the complete alienation of the Arians from the
mainstream of the church. There is no record of his stand on the Easter
controversy. Eusebius described some of the pomp of the Council in De
Vita Constantini. He played a large role in all the proceedings and sat at
Constantine's right even though Rome, Alexandria and Antioch outranked
Caesarea.
Eusebius was bishop of Caesarea for almost twenty-five years. In 330
he turned down the opportunity to become bishop of Antioch. He attended
the Council of Antioch in 331 and the Council of Tyre in 335. Similarly
he was active in the Synods of Jerusalem and Constantinople in the same
year. He was the chief orator for the 30th anniversary of Constantine's
reign. This panegyric was later attached to his Life of Constantine. Euse-
bius remained high in the regard of Constantine and was a close advisor
to him at least from 325 on if not as early as 313. Constantine died in 337
and Eusebius shortly thereafter in 339 or 340, at about eighty years of age.
His successor as bishop of Caesarea was present at the Synod of Antioch in
341.
70 THE BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST (Vol. XXVII,
r
A
..yw
.~- 114
Y~I op4 ',J
Fig. 2. The Pontius Pilate inscription found in the Caesarea theatre in 1961.
Caesarea
Caesarea Palestine was located on the coast of Palestine in the Sharon
plain. Its ruins at Qeisariyeh are eight miles south of Dor and about thirty
miles north of Jaffa. It had been the capital of Judea and the seat of Roman
Procuratorsf rom after the time of Herod until A.D. 66. It was the metropolis
1964, 3) THE BIBLICALA RCHAEOLOGIST 71
of Christian and Byzantine Palestine and seemed to have served after A.D.
70 as the ecclesiastical capital.5
Herod the Great began to build a new Hellenistic city on the site of
Strato's Tower in 22 B.C. Strato's Tower was a relatively insignificant
town with its beginning perhaps in the Persian period. It is mentioned by
Zenon in the middle of the 3rd century B.C. Caesarea Sebaste was at least
twelve years in the building and was consecrated to Augustus in 13 B.C.
Josephus gives us details of the glory and grandeur of Herod's Caesarea in
his Antiquities XV. 9.6 and Wars I. 21. 5-8. The public buildings were in
the magnificent hellenistic-roman style. The whole area was well irrigated
by aqueducts and drainage canals, and remained a garden spot for years,
until neglect and economic reversesg ave it back to the sand.
At the time of Jesus' birth Caesarea was at its zenith. In 1961 an in-
scription with the name of Pontius Pilate was found in the theater ex-
cavations (Fig. 2).6 The Jews of Caesarea were among the first victims
of the First Revolt. Vespasian was acclaimed emperor at Caesarea in A.D.
69 and in A.D. 70 Titus brought the temple spoils to Caesarea.
The city was expanded further in the 2nd century A.D. New aque-
ducts, new roads and monuments were erected and the city became a colonial
capital and shortly thereafter a metropolis with the privilege of coining
its own money. By the end of that century there was a Christian bishop
in Caesarea along with a famous rabbinic school. In the 3rd century a
colony of Samaritansw as established. In the Byzantine period, 4th-6th cen-
turies, Caesarea reached new heights rivaling the splendor of Herod's times.
In 639 the Arabs conquered the city and brought an end to Roman
rule. For some 460 years the Moslems controlled the city and used its
port for commercial and military expansion. The Crusaders and the Mos-
lems battled over Caesarea many times and in 1291 its destruction was
complete. Thereafter it was only a site for temporary habitation by squat-
ters, as the dust, sand and malaria took over.
In the 19th century Moslems from Bosnia were resettled by the Turks
near the ruins of the Crusader city. Between 1937 and 1940 the Jewish
colony Kibbutz Sedot Yam was established near the Roman ruins. The
ancient glory of Caesarea intrigued the colonists and since that time many
K5.a dFmora nt,h eT hhei sCtooriyn so fo f CCaaeessaarreeaa sMeea rAit.i mRae i(f1e9n5b7e)r,g , pIps.r a1e6l Eif.x;p laonrda tiao np oJpouularrn aslu, mI m(a1r9y5 1in), Ill2u0sftfr.a; teLd.
London News, Oct. 26, 1963, pp. 684ff.
6. For archaeological study see the first campaign report Caesarea Maritima (1959); C. T. Fritsch
and I. Ben-Dor, BA, XXIV (1961), 50ff; D. Barag, Bulletin of the Israel Exploration Society (in He-
brew), XXV (1961), pp. 231ff; M. Avi-Yonah, Rabinovitz Synagogue Fund Bulletin I (Dec.
1949), 17f.; II (June 1951), 28: III (Summer 1956), 44f. See also brief notes and reports in
Revue Biblique, Israel Exploration Journal and Bulletin of the Israel Exploration Society and
popular summaries in Illustrated London News, Oct. 26, 1963, pp. 684f.; Nov. 2, 1963, pp. 728f.,
and April 4, 1964, pp. 524f.
72 THE BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST (Vol. XXVII,
archaeological efforts have been exerted toward the recovery of Herodian,
Byzantine and Crusader remains.
Already in 1932 a synagogue was reported near the sea. In 1945, and
on occasions since, it was explored archaeologically. It has a history from
the Roman period to the Arab conquest. Italian archaeologists have been
digging in the Herodian area since 1959, with special attention to the
theater. In 1960 the Link expedition to the port was carried out. A large
scale Department of Antiquities excavation began in 1960 in the Crusader
area.
)I'
,,IN
:oo~ to ? _ 3
of..
?.?'s .V.x
04v ;
Fig. 3. A synagogue mosaic from Caesarea, indicating the extent of the hellenization of Jews there
in the Byzantine period. From the Rabinovitz Fund Bulletin, II, plate 14.
The history of the city is being refined by these archaeological en-
deavors. Perhaps the grand temple to Augustus has been found, along with
many other Herodian foundations. One large Byzantine establishment may
even turn out to be Origen's library. The crusader fortress and cathedral
have been cleared and it has been recognized that much of Byzantine
Caesareaw as obliteratedb y the rebuilding of the Crusaders.
1964, 3) THE BIBLICALA RCHAEOLOGIST 73
The Onomasticon
It was in the flourishing Roman-ByzantineC aesarea that bishop Euseb-
ius wrote or compiled his four part geographical work, of which only the
last, the Onomasticon, survived the exigencies of time. According to the
preface, the three lost works were in some way preparatoryf or the Onomas-
ticon if not fully incorporated into it. Wallace-Hadrill gives these high
sounding titles to the first three works: Interpretationo f Ethnological Terms
in the Hebrew Scriptures, Chorography of Ancient Judea with the Inheri-
tance of the Tribes, and Plan of Jerusalem and of the Temple with Mem-
ories relating to the Various Localities.7T he first was a translation or trans-
literation of Hebrew proper names into Greek. This does not seem to have
been much more than a skeletal outline of proper names based on the Hexa-
pla. Whether it included an etymology of the place names (and perhaps
some personal names) as in the more technical sense of an onomastical list
cannot be determined.8 Such a list is Jerome's Interpretation of Hebrew
Names which is based on Philo and Origen. Undoubtedly Eusebius had
their lists and others.
The second was a list or description of ancient Judea arranged by
tribes. This was of course based on the tribal lists of Numbers and Joshua.
It is reasonable to suspect that almost all of this has been incorporated
bodily into the final work since one of the things the Onomasticon treats
most thoroughly is the tribal designation of each place based on the Greek
text of the tribal divisions. There is some inconclusive discussion among
scholars as to whether this description accompanied a map or simply was
a map. There is a map attached to the 12th century Latin manuscript of
Jerome's Onomasticon in the British Museum which could be derived
from Eusebius' map, if such a map existed.9
The third was a descriptive plan of Jerusalem and the Temple area.
In the Onomasticon many proper names of areas in and around Jerusalem
are separately identified and described. Undoubtedly this information was
closely related to the original plan. Probably the rediscovery of the Holy
City by Constantine and St. Helena was responsible for this interest.
The fourth part is the Onomasticon itself, which was completed about
A.D. 330 or shortly before. Several facts pertain to the problem of settling
the date. It is dedicated, as is the Church History, to Paulinus, who
retired as bishop of Tyre before the Council of Nicea (325), and died
in 330. That gives the latest possible date. On the other hand, the Greek
7. Wallace-Hadrill, p. 203.
8. Cf. F. Wutz, Onomastica Sacra (2 vols.; 1914-15).
9. M. Avi-Yonah, The Madaba Map (1954), p. 30; R. O'Callaghan, "Madaba (Carte de)," Supple-
ment to the Dictionnaire de la Bible, V (1957), col. 636; and compare H. Fischer, Zeitschrift des
Deutschen Paliistina-Vereins (hereafter ZDPV), LXII (1939), 169ff.
74 THE BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST (Vol. XXVII,
text notes none of the Constantinian churches, of which Eusebius knew
and about which he wrote in other works (so that architects and arch-
aeologists use his works as primary sources for the Constantinian founda-
tion). Jerome, however, places the Onomasticon late in Eusebius' career.
Taken together, these facts suggest Eusebius dedicated it to Paulinus after
the latter's retirement as bishop of Tyre.
In the Greek Vatican manuscript the Onomasticon is entitled "Con-
cerning the Place-names in Sacred Scripture." The Latin does not contain
a precise title. In general the book is a geographical bible dictionary within
certain stated limitations. With only a few exceptions the text confines
itself to the Holy Land as proposed in the preface. This of course counters
the plan to give place-names of Holy Scripture, since among others the
cities which Paul visited are missing. The preface also proposes that cities
and villages are to be noted, but the present Greek and Latin texts include
also wadies, deserts, mountains, districts and even an occasional personal or
idol name. Almost 1000 items, largely from the Old Testament, are recorded,
of which about 400 are sufficiently described to warrant an attempt at
localization.10A lready in the time of the Survey of Western Palestine, Con-
der claimed to have identified
300.1
The arrangement of the book is according to the Greek alphabet from
Alpha to Omega. Since the Greek letters do not follow the Semitic alphabet
there are some doublets as well as some transcriptional errors. Jerome in
the Latin had to indicate some of the places where the three alphabets
diverge. In the present text, names beginning with A take up almost one-
quartero f the entire length of the book.
Within each alphabetic division, the place names are arranged accord-
ing to the order of the biblical book in the Septuagint, beginning with
Genesis. Numbers and Deuteronomy are often linked together as one sub-
division. In smaller alphabetic sections the Pentateuch is made the first
heading. The book of Leviticus is not referred to. The other major divisions
are Joshua, Judges, Kings and the Gospels. I Chronicles, Job, Maccabees
and the Prophets are usually subsumed under Kings.
II Chronicles does not appear and some of the place references of I
Chronicles are omitted, but most of these were paralleled in earlier lists.
Esther and Daniel are not involved, probably because the majority of place
names in them are outside of the proposed territorial scope of the volume.
The greatest geographic lacuna seems to be Ezra-Nehemiah. In addition,
Habakkuk, Haggai, Malachi, Ruth, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Lamenta-
tions are omitted although none of these has a strong topographicalo rienta-
10. Avi-Yonah, Madaba Map, p. 28, counts 983; E. Z. Melamed, Tarbiz, IV (1933), 248f., counts
990.
11. C. R. Conder, Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly (1896), p. 244.